Best bang-for-your-buck carbon HT 29er

Looking for some help finding a 29er hardtail carbon 29er with the best value. Some brands have much higher MSRP than another with similar packages and I'm wondering if there are any I'm missing. X.9 set up is fine with me so the entry level package on most of these brands is what I would be shooting for since I'm an upgrade junky and will sweeten it up over time. But some have RS Recon shocks and I would like to avoid going that low.

Superfly
Stumpjumper
Cannondale Flash
Giant XTC
Scott Scale

Others? Any no-name brand, bikesdirect type, options out there?

I don't have time to build up a chinese carbon frame or I probably would.

Looking for some help finding a 29er hardtail carbon 29er with the best value. Some brands have much higher MSRP than another with similar packages and I'm wondering if there are any I'm missing. X.9 set up is fine with me so the entry level package on most of these brands is what I would be shooting for since I'm an upgrade junky and will sweeten it up over time. But some have RS Recon shocks and I would like to avoid going that low.

Superfly
Stumpjumper
Cannondale Flash
Giant XTC
Scott Scale

Others? Any no-name brand, bikesdirect type, options out there?

I don't have time to build up a chinese carbon frame or I probably would.

I'd love to have me an Xtc advanced even the standard composite version would be nice. Giants geometry has always worked awesome for me. Most people seem to avoid looking at giants only because of the name. I'd also take a look at the niner bikes.

Or you could always go with one of the Chinese carbon frames. They look rad. I'm kinda in the same situation as you but I'm trying to find a carbon full sus frame. I'm torn between giant and niner!

My experience in accumulating all the part I want my build to have, I've doubled what I would have spent buying a complete bike. If you have shopping secrets, please share.

complete opposite IMO

price point, performance, tree fort, bike nashbar, cambridge, bikewagon, ebay. all online sites that have sales and regular low prices. i always buy parts way in advance of building a bike to get really good prices. even stock pile parts like favorite brakes, cranks, seats, stems...etc.

in regards to your original question, get a chinese frame and build it up. eben if you pay full price for parts you are ahead in $$$

Complete bikes, even high end (like an S-works Epic that I bought as a frame and built up) always have a bunch of parts that I don't want to run. They are usually cheap price point items... or a setback seat post (when I always run a non-offset), etc.

Plus you can shop around and get exactly what you want. Otherwise I spend WAY more changint stuff around. But, I'm picky.

I always do a ton of changing parts out to fit my needs or to upgrade quality of just for some bling. So you may have a point that just doing my way from the beginning may turn out to be much cheaper in the long run.

price point, performance, tree fort, bike nashbar, cambridge, bikewagon, ebay. all online sites that have sales and regular low prices. i always buy parts way in advance of building a bike to get really good prices. even stock pile parts like favorite brakes, cranks, seats, stems...etc.

^^^ This ^^^ I just built up a carbon Tallboy LT and saved $1200+ building it up piece by piece with parts bought at Tree Fort, Comp Cyclist, Blue Sky Cycling and ebay.

That is a great deal - but it's the frame only and I need a complete bike so I can start riding it immediately and upgrade later. That frame built up on competitive cyclist starts at $3800.

It isnt that difficult and your bike shop will typically install everything for about 150.

1) Order chinese 29er hardtail frame. Pay attention to the seat post size, head tube size (1 1/8 or tapered and get a frame that has a BSA bottom bracket shell, 68 or 73. Bottom
brackets come with spacers so they will work with 68 or 73. Will take about 2 weeks to arrive and will cost 350-400 shipped
2) order a chinese carbon wheelset, live with the novatec hubs. I believe the wheelset is $650, will take about two weeks to arrive. Make sure the axle types are compatible with the frame on the rear and with the fork you are buying.
3 ) ebay has full shimano groups for decent prices. This will get you 90% of the way there. XT groups are about $900-$1K for 12 pieces (brakes and drivetrain). Make sure the front derailleur is a top swing. It has a better chance to fit. There is a chance you will need to get a different front derailleur (bottom swing) but they are cheap.
4) order a fork that matches the head tube and has the right travel - $500
5) order a headset that matches the head tube, this can be tricky I think the carbon frames are zero stack headsets so you may need to read the thread to find out what people got. Headset will be $25-40
6) seat clamp, post and seat, make sure the clamp is the right size for the particular frame. Not all frames with the same seat post diameter have the same clamp size due to differing thickness of the tube itself. - around $150
7) stem and handlebars - around $150
8) grips - $30
9) tires - $150

$3K for high end components which should result in a very light bike.
You can save about $500-$800 if you shop around.

The fork can be $300 on sale
seat post, seat and clamp can be around $75
stem+bars can be around $50 for heavier components
tires can be $80 total if you go with something like specialized ground control

You can get the cost to $2K and about 3 weeks if you work hard. Especially right now since there are so many sales going on.

The best value has to include the best performance. The Canyon cf might be a little more difficult to get but it has the engineering to go with the value. When you look around at the other offerings its pretty unique. Putting in the extra at the start you get to ride the benefits.